Behind Gold Eyes
by ShinichiKudoOwnsMySoul
Summary: Masaomi Kida never thought those odd dreams meant anything. He is the reincarnation of one Edward Elric. As confusing dreams swirl around in his mind, he will discover what is right and what is wrong. When he learns who he used to be, will the Shogun's reality collapse? Or will he still manage to be free? Original version of Alchemy and Vending Machines.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: HELLO THERE EVERYBODY. Welcome to my spinoff/original idea for my fanfic, Alchemy and Vending Machines (previously Alchemist's reincarnation). The idea here is that Masaomi Kida is the reincarnation of Edward Elric rather than Shizuo. Whether or not I'll continue this is debatable, if you all like, review, and alert it like hell, then I'll definitely continue. I'm continuing my stories of Harry Potter, Code Geass, Magi, Pandora Hearts, Naruto, etc.**

 **And if I switch tenses, forgive me as the beginning was intended to be told from present tense, but wound up switching between past and present. I will now do it as I intended to, with a few cuts in between, to add more substance to this work.**

 **I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or Durarara! The creative ideas are my own, however the work I'm borrowing from is owned by Hiromu Arakawa, Studio BONES, Square Enix, and Ryohgo Narita.**

* * *

 **Chapter One; Deja vu**

Sometimes, he doesn't understand the world, as much as he doesn't understand himself. He's much more complex than he appears, and he's smarter than people think he is. In fact, the idea of him being considered stupid by people pisses him off. It doesn't take much to piss him off, in fact. Even being called small pisses him off.

What he's been through has been enough to make him nearly insane, or at the very least, clinging to what remains of his sanity.

It's amazing, he thinks, what people fail to grasp, even if it's right before their eyes. Perhaps the person who understands that the most is himself.

These are just the amount of questions Masaomi has drifting around his subconscious. It doesn't really matter what they are. These feelings confuse the blond teen, and he's not quite sure what to call them, nor what they are. They unsettle him, but at other times they're annoying.

One of the first things he can remember feeling off about as a child is when he and Mikado are playing. They're playing together, like they always do.

Mikado happens to mention something about a series named Harry Potter. So while they are reading the book, Mikado happens to mention something casually to Masaomi. What he certainly isn't expecting is for Masaomi to react the way that he does.

"So you know, Masaomi, there's this thing that they make called the Philosopher's Stone, and.."

The brunette dropped the book he was holding and stared at him with wide eyes, his golden eyes filled with confusion. "Repeat that last phrase again, Mikado?"

"Uh, Philosopher's stone. There's nothing wrong with that. It is fiction after all."

A bunch of strange thoughts take over Masaomi's head, and before he knows it, he doesn't know what he's saying. His mind is in a strange sort of fog, a strange mix of emotions. The next thing he knows, he's grabbed Mikado and is shaking him violently.

"No, the Philosopher's Stone is real! I've seen it, it exists! It's amazing, you can do so many things with it, like heal the sick, cure injuries, and bring about eternal life! What are you saying, Mikado?"

"Masaomi?" Mikado says, "This is just fiction. It's not real. Stop overreacting."

Masaomi suddenly puts his hand over his mouth, unable to believe what he'd just said. "What just came over me, Mikado?"

"You were trying to tell me that a fictional object exists."

"Was I? Uh...I don't remember. That's odd. Hey, Mikado, sometimes I don't entirely feel like myself." The brunette admitted.

The incident passes by forgotten. He and Mikado move on to other kinds of play.

Mikado's parents watch over them, occasionally whispering a few words of concern, but otherwise things are back to normal.

Or so it seems.

It is then and there, that for the first time, Masaomi has realized that there is something different about him, compared to other kids. It is there, it is there as he lies, asleep in bed. It is there as he plays with Mikado, whispering scary tales to him to make him flinch.

He is not ordinary.

Just knowing this scares him so much. And his fists tighten.

He isn't quite sure why he feels this way.

All he knows is that somehow, he is wrong.

The second time that this happened, it was all about his hair.

Masaomi's father has never been around, as long as he can remember. He ditched them when they were younger.

They, who is they?

Another odd thing is that Masaomi swears he's had a brother somewhere before. He often thinks of Mikado as his brother, even though Mikado swears they're just best friends.

But they laugh like brothers, they talk like brothers, right? Perhaps their relationship is different from what people would conventionally think of when they think of best friends.

About his hair.

His mother is around. She tries her best to provide for him, but there are times where she is imperfect. This is one of those times.

Masaomi's mother notices Masaomi standing by the mirror, glaring at his hair. She has noticed how her child has an extreme hatred of his hair style, and even the color of it. She's not quite sure why.

"I hate it," He says.

"What's wrong, Masaomi?" She asks.

The brunette turns around to stare at her. "My hair should be blond! Why is it not blond?" He cries.

"Masaomi, your hair is fine as it is!"

"It's not right!"

Before she can stop him, her son Masaomi takes a pair of scissors and starts to cut his brown hair, wildly.

She stops him by slapping him in the face.

Masaomi stares at his reflection in the mirror, taking in his sloppily cut hair.

Still, he's pleased.

"My hair should be longer than this..." He says, but she doesn't listen.

Adults don't listen, Masaomi realizes this by the time he's in junior high. Besides adults not listening, they're useless. They're useless to turn to about gangs, about anything at all.

Masaomi treasures his mother.

He must, or else something bad will happen to her. And bad it does.

He's around ten or eleven when it happens. He's not sure why the age is of so much significance to him, but it is.

That day, his mother smiles at him, pats his head and tells him she'll be back and that she's just going to the store to pick up a few things, and she'll be back in an hour. He waits for her. One hour passes, then another.

She does not return.

He decides to go to sleep and wait for her to come back.

When morning comes, she is not over his bedside, trying to wake him up. She is not in her room, which is still as shoddy and unmade as it was the day before.

He feels dread settle in his heart, for some reason he can't quite comprehend.

"Come on, Al, we've gotta find her." He says, before pausing and wondering, just who on earth is Al? Why did he say that?

Another odd thing Masaomi notices about himself is that he supposes he must have a younger brother somewhere, he often finds himself talking to someone named 'Al.' He's not sure why he does.

The other kids at school find that weird, so they often make fun of him.

 _But he doesn't care._

* * *

Masaomi is quite smart. He's always liked reading. But he only reads when it's necessary, ignoring the voice in his head that tells him he should be reading and studying more. He's always liked literature, and mathematics. He's especially good at that.

But the one thing that's always drawn him in more than anything else...is science. He's not sure why he's so interested in it. He finds himself eagerly wishing he could learn something more than what's in the textbooks. The textbooks don't teach him enough, but he seems like a lazy student to his class because he's always falling asleep.

He's always doing his own thing, and that pisses the teachers off more than anything else.

There is a knock on his door when he is sitting at a desk in his room, studying over his science textbooks, his golden eyes scouring over the page.

Cautiously, the brunette gets up and opens the door, in time to see a policeman standing there.

"Are you Masaomi Kida?"

Whenever he nods, the man continues on.

"I'm sorry to inform you that your mother has been in an accident. She is in the hospital, and your relatives have been called to take care of you."

Masaomi feels his heart pounding faster and faster. He can't lose his mother, he can't lose his mother, he can't, he can't!

The next day, Mikado is surprised when Masaomi is not in school.

He should be here, why isn't he?

It is not until later that afternoon, when he goes over to Masaomi's house, knocks and finds Masaomi's mother nowhere in sight and no sign of Masaomi himself.

The odd thing is, he can smell a funny odor coming from Masaomi's room.

When he opens the door, the sight he's greeted with is not a pleasant one.

"Masaomi!" Mikado cries, racing over to his friend's side.

He notices the textbooks open and answered homework. Funny, he always assumed his best friend was a slacker who never bothered to do any homework, and would rather be hitting on girls. What made him want to suddenly do it now?

He can see some odd-looking bottles near Masaomi. _Was that...hair dye?_

Mikado's eyes traveled back to Masaomi, who was...trying to dye his hair?

"Masaomi! Why are you dying your hair?"

"Because, Mikado, I'm supposed to be a blond!"

"Masaomi, not like this!" Mikado says. "Aren't you too young for that?"

"No, no I'm not! And my mother is dead!"

Mikado falls into a shocked silence upon hearing those words, looking at him.

Masaomi looked at him and then shook his head. "You don't understand. She died. There was an accident. She was in a car crash, and I couldn't save her..."

Tears went down Masaomi's face and at that second, Masaomi Kida broke, falling into his best friend's arms, who held him as he sobbed hysterically, and Mikado, too, started crying.

"It's all right!" Mikado cried. "I'm here for you! I always am!"

Masaomi tilts his head, a smile playing on his face, his newly dyed hair flopping in his eyes.

" _That's great, Al! Let's go_!" He says.

Mikado tilts his head, looking at his best friend in confusion. "What did you just say, Masaomi?"

Masaomi whirls back around to face him, his eyes full of confusion. "What is it, Mikado?"

"You just spoke...in another language, Masaomi! How do you know...German?"

"I've...always known German," Masaomi said, not sure why this was something that was bothering him.

"And who's Al? Some character on TV?"

"No, he's my imaginary friend! For some reason, I keep thinking I have a brother somewhere."

"But you don't have a brother, Masaomi!"

An idea popped into Masaomi's mind then.

"Then you can be like my little brother, Mikado!" Masaomi cried, hugging Mikado.

That night, as Masaomi lies on his bed, he keeps thinking he needs his mother back. But a soft voice whispers to him that if he did that, the consequences would be more dire than he can imagine.

When he dreams, he dreams of screaming, of blood dripping out of his leg, of some humanoid abomination with glowing red eyes, of someone screaming for their brother, and of hard metal limbs.

When he awakens the next morning, he finds that his arm and leg are normal, like they should be. It was just a dream, after all. Only a dream. Right?

The next time he gets a sudden sense of deja vu is when he forms a gang called the Yellow Scarves. Yellow has always seemed to define who he is, that and the colors of red and black, for some reason. He finds himself wearing red a bit.

So why is it when he meets Orihara Izaya, he feels a strange sense of deja vu going through his body? A sense of sudden antipathy, a sudden sense of dislike. He does not like this man, even though the girl, Saki Mikajima, sure seems to, in an almost unhealthy way.

"Who the hell are you?" He finds himself saying.

The man chuckles. The informant smirks at him.

"Still the same as ever, I see." He says, patting the blond boy's head, who looks at him in confusion.

"Don't act so familiar with me!" He cries.

"Oh, I know you very well. Leader of the Yellow Scarves, Masaomi Kida-kun. Perhaps something more than that. I'm Orihara Izaya, pleasure to meet you."

He does not like this man. He isn't sure why.

This man is a lot like fire, burning and unpredictable.

Saki? Saki herself is strange. He doesn't quite understand her. What he feels for her isn't 'love.' Nothing like that, it's more like...a sisterly feeling. She's like a sister to him. Even though she's infatuated with him, he doesn't exactly return the sentiment.

Then Saki is hospitalized. In an event he could've prevented.

Something he could've prevented, if he had the chance or the willpower to do so.

Somehow, he can recall a little girl somewhere, her death, and he could've saved her, yet was too cowardly to do so.

He can recall pain from being in the hospital. He keeps on thinking his right arm and left leg shouldn't be there, that they should be somewhere else.

"Why didn't you protect Saki?" He finds himself shouting at Izaya, trying to punch the bastard, only for him to be knocked backward by him.

"You're too weak. That's your first problem. You're too naive. You're too different from how you were last time."

"Last time?" Masaomi remarks, not quite getting what the man's talking about.

"Ah, you still don't remember, do you?" Izaya says, sighing in finality. "This will make everything so much harder."

Orihara Izaya is an enigma.

"Still stupid, aren't you, Ed?"

That voice causes Masaomi to freeze. The golden-eyed boy looks at him in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"You reacted," Izaya says, grabbing Masaomi's arm.

But Masaomi wriggles out of his grasp. He hates this man.

"Is it true that you can speak German?"

" _Shut up and leave me alone_!" Masaomi cries, again in German. How does he know that? He's never studied it before. He blinks a few times.

Orihara Izaya is looking down at him, with an amused expression on his face.

" _It's just as I thought_." He says, pulling Masaomi back to his feet, before the Yellow Scarves leader can react. "You _are_ him, aren't you?"

Masaomi does the only thing he can do-he runs away. Despite the voice in his head telling him to get back up and walk, to fight back, he doesn't want to. He runs instead.

"As I was saying, Mikado, Ikebukuro is an exciting place." He says, nudging the black-haired youth.

"Uh, Masaomi...remember back when you said we could be brothers?"

"Yeah?" Masaomi says in disinterest.

"Well, what if we were friends in a past life?"

"Friends! Maybe we were brothers! I, Masaomi Kida, the love extraordinaire, surrounded you with all kinds of women!"

'Don't be such an idiot, Masaomi Kida. There's no time for that,' A voice whispers in his head.

'Shut up,' Masaomi says back.

"Masaomi, you've been acting weird lately," Mikado says, staring at his friend in worry.

As they pass by all kinds of stores, Masaomi's eyes lock onto something. It was...a store. Not just any kind of store, but one with...medieval things.*

He noticed a suit of armor in the window.

Instantly, Masaomi made a beeline for the store, with Mikado behind him.

"Masaomi, why are you so interested in that?" Mikado asks.

"Armor, huh? Looks kinda cool, doesn't it?" Masaomi says, eying the armor up and down. "I like it for some strange reason. Not quite sure why."

He closed his eyes. He imagined a person in a suit of armor, walking around and talking.

'And the name of that person is...Al...?'

Mikado waved a hand in front of the blond's face, startling him out of his trance.

"Hey, Mikado, how's the weather?"

"Fine...why were you spacing out like that?" Mikado asked in worry.

"I don't know." Masaomi says.

To be honest, he doesn't know himself.

And that scares him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Any guesses as to who Alphonse could be? Go ahead and guess, you won't be expecting the surprise~he's male, of course. I don't like doing reverse genders unless it's the OC self insert, stuff, it makes it a bit too complicated. I know, I have Shizuo as Ed and Kasuka as Alphonse-I wanted to go with the original idea-which was Ed as Masaomi, and see how it goes. Maybe even use Ed as a reincarnated Masaomi blog. :D**

 **Chapter 2 An awkward reunion on different sides**

* * *

Sometimes he wondered what on earth he'd done to deserve such a life. He'd remembered how his brother had died. They were just having fun.

It had been a day when they'd had no work in the military-the two brothers were just hanging out, talking, laughing like they normally did, Ed punching him in the shoulder for calling him short, saying Ed knew better because he was older.

Then, it had happened.

A sniper had come out of nowhere, and the bullet was aimed straight for Alphonse, but Edward had taken it for him. He still remembered Edward's fallen corpse, his eyes wide in shock, as he'd coughed up blood and how Al had held him in his arms as he spoke his final words.

 _"Alphonse, look for me. I know I'll be reborn. And when I am...you'll find me again, won't you?"_

 _"Brother, don't talk like that." Al whined, as his brother's body was growing colder and colder, and Ed's grip on his brother's body was slowly losing, his skin was getting paler._

 _His golden eyes were slowly closing. "I know...I'll be reborn...we'll be brothers, right? Please, find me again...Al. We could be brothers once more, right...?"_

 _His eyes closed and his hand fell to the side._

 _Edward Elric was dead._

 _The suit of armor shook his brother. He wouldn't move._

 _"Brother!" Al cried._

 _He was dead._

 _"Brother, please, no!" Al screamed._

 _"It's no use, kid, he's a goner." Mustang said sadly._

"BROTHER!" He cried, as he awoke, his dark hair falling in his eyes as he awoke.

He pushed strands of his dark hair back with his fingers.

The boy sat up, noticing tears pouring out of his eyes. "Shit, not again." He muttered.

"I keep on dreaming like that."

This boy was Alphonse Elric-or had been. He had been reincarnated as a human, again that surprised him as he had been stuck in the suit of armor. Perhaps Truth decided to give him a second chance, but this world was far too different-more modern, with odd technology, no signs of alchemy.

His new parents were nice, but they had problems.

To his delight, he'd discovered that he had an older brother. He was thrilled. Perhaps it was Ed. However, he couldn't have been more wrong.

The door to his room was kicked open, as a tall, dark-haired man stood in the doorway, glaring at him. The scar on his face was clearly visible.

"Having another dream, you fucking sissy?" He hissed.

If this was his big brother, then this was God's idea of a joke.

"Get the hell out of here, Ran," He said, coldly.

"You don't talk to me like that, little shit," Izumii said, lifting up Alphonse Elric-or, _Aoba Kuronuma,_ by his shirt sleeve, and glaring at him. "You're worthless. I'm your older brother, after all, that means you do whatever I say."

"Never," Aoba snapped.

As Izumii skulked off, Aoba buried his head in his sheets and cried, his vermillion eyes leaking with tears.

"Why did I have to be reborn without my brother?" He moaned.

There was no way Aoba's brother was his real brother. Edward. Edward would never treat him like that. Edward would punch the shit out of Izumii and tell him to treat him better.

His brother had been reborn. He was going to find him, no matter what.

"Is he close to me," He mumbled, looking out the window at the busy streets below of Ikebukuro, "Is he somewhere, out here?"

What he didn't know was that his brother had a new identity, and a new life.

Aoba didn't know what he was expecting when he turned up at Raira High School.

His mother had insisted that she wanted him to be happy and safe from his wicked brother. The less said about Izumii, the family-screw up, the better.

"I wonder who else has been reborn," He muttered as he walked to school.

Frankly, Orihara Izaya reminded him too much of the Colonel.

That was scary, because Mustang had been a man with an agenda, but also a heart, and now he was not only a conniving mastermind, but devoid of a heart.

"Yet another reminder of reincarnation's cruel sense of humor," He mumbled, tightening his fists.

He paused as he heard a new voice scream, "IZAYYYAAAAA!"

His heart pounded in his chest. Was Shizuo Heiwajima his brother?

That was impossible.

"I'm mistaken," He muttered.

Whenever he got into school, the teacher escorted Aoba in.

"I'm Aoba Kuronuma, it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

His eyes scoured over his classmates.

A redhead with blue eyes who had her arms wrapped around a brown-haired boy. Boring.

A dark-haired girl with glasses who seemed quite shy-Sciezska, was the thought that crossed his mind momentarily, before he dismissed it as idle nonsense. Boring.

A boy with spiky black hair and blue eyes who looked vaguely interested in him.

Aoba had to bite back a gasp, the boy looked just like Pride. It had to be a coincidence. He was just an innocent kid who looked like him.

The boy beside the black-haired boy was too engrossed in his cell phone to pay attention.

"Kuronuma, you will sit beside Ryuugamine and Kida."

'Kida? What a weird name,' He thought as he sat down beside the other youth, who was too involved in his cell phone.

The teen beside him was wearing a hoodie. As he turned to greet the other with a smile on his face, Aoba had to bite back a scream.

The boy before him was distinctly Asian. However, his hair was bright blond, though it looked...dyed. It was quite short, but stuck up a bit.

Still, blond hair...and those eyes...they were gold. That face, that smile, it was...

"Br-" He began, but the boy smiled before his face turned into a frown.

"You," He mumbled, "You're."

"I'm Aoba, don't you recognize me?"

"Oh, yeah, I recognize you," The blond said coldly. "You're a member of a gang, aren't you?"

Aoba froze. How did he know that?

"So your name's Kida, right?" He said, trying to make polite conversation with the boy he thought was his brother-he looked and acted enough like him.

"The name's Masaomi Kida," He said sharply, "And don't act like we're friends."

Edward-no, Masaomi said, glaring at him.

Aoba realized that though this boy looked like his brother, he was his reincarnation. He felt his heart pound faster while sitting beside him. He observed his brother's reactions in science class, noticing that the blond youth did particularly well.

He had to bite back a laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Masaomi said, scowling.

"Nothing," He muttered.

"You're a weird kid." He said in response.

While they were having lunch, Masaomi nudged Mikado.

"Hey, Mikado, let's go hit on some girls, namely Anri-chan! I wanna see your beautiful breasts, I could just gra-"

Mikado punched the blond in the face.

"Masaomi, you're a freaking pervert."

"I know, and I'm proud of it! What girl doesn't want to go out with the one and only Masaomi Kida!"

An energetic, bubbly personality? Like Ed, but different. He had always been more serious.

This Ed was more cheerful. Wait, this was a mask. Ed had always used masks, this was no different.

"Kida-san, could I speak to you?" He said.

"No," The other said sharply.

Wow, this was going to be difficult. How could he tell him, "I believe you were my brother in a past life" without sounding like a psycho?

"I just want to talk in private about some homework," He lied.

"Homework?" The blond muttered, raising a brow. "All right. Mikado, wait here."

"What is it you really wanted?" He snapped. "You're in a gang, right?"

"That's right, I'm in the Blue Squares." Aoba said, "And you, you're in the Yellow Scarves?"

"Yes," He said icily. Those were the eyes of the Full Metal Alchemist, all right.

"You're the leader, right?"

Masaomi jumped. "How did you know?"

"You're too obvious. You wear all yellow, blond hair, that's so typical." He said with a laugh.

"Shut up! So I like yellow, so what?" Masaomi snapped.

"You're awfully short, too," He said.

To his surprise, the other shrugged.

"Eh, who cares. Height doesn't really matter."

"Listen," Aoba said, "I-"

"I have nothing to say to a punk like you. Stay away from Mikado." The other said, glaring at him again.

"Do you have dreams?"

"Dreams?" The other remarked, quirking a brow.

"I have weird dreams, and I believe that we were."

"You have some issues." Masaomi remarked.

"Wait, do you know anyone named Alphonse?" Aoba pressed.

"Alphonse," The other said, "I did have an imaginary friend by that name, but you know how kids are, coming up with silly stuff." He rubbed his neck, laughing.

'He is my brother,' He thought, 'This is my brother. But he doesn't remember me.'

"You are acting awfully familiar with me, Kuronuma." Masaomi said, "Have we met before?"

"Maybe we have." Aoba said.

"Probably out on the gangster battlefield." Masaomi said before biting into his sandwich and drinking his milk-wait, what?

"You like milk?"

"Sure, who doesn't?" Masaomi said. "My mom always taught me to drink milk. She passed from a car accident. It's impossible to bring her back, those are the laws of nature. Death is natural, you can just accept it."

Upon hearing Aoba chuckle, Masaomi glared at him.

"What's so funny?" Masaomi demanded.

"Nothing."

The boy suddenly nodded off, his golden eyes closing as he fell asleep.

"He's like him, but different," Aoba muttered.

As the school day drew to a close, Aoba sighed as he walked outside with Ryuugamine and Masaomi. Masaomi kept shooting him odd stares before rolling his eyes and walking closer to Ryuugamine.

Suddenly Izumii skulked up to them. "Hey, shithead, time to come home. My mom sent me here."

"Screw off," Aoba hissed.

Izumii grabbed his arm. "What was that, you little punk?"

Masaomi glared at Izumii. "You could try treating him nicer, you know. He's your brother, right?"

"What do you know, kid?" Izumii sneered.

"That's right, I don't know," He said, "Because I'm an only child. But I think siblings should be respecting each other."

Izumii sneered before walking away.

"Um, thanks," Aoba muttered, "Kida-senpai, that was really amazing."

"Nothing really," Masaomi remarked.


	3. Chapter 3 Yellow Shogun or Alchemist

_**A/N; I deactivated my rp accounts on tumblr with Masaomi as Ed because no one paid any attention to them, even though I tried really hard, so here I'll just be returning to business as usual with the main plot. Try to figure out who's who. So far, Aoba is Alphonse, Ed is Masaomi and Izaya is...Roy? Idk. This chapter may be a tad short.  
**_

 _ **Chapter 3 Yellow Shogun or Alchemist**_

* * *

Kida Masaomi shrugged as he lay on his bed in his room, trying hard to fall asleep, for some reason he just couldn't. He stared at his right arm; he had sworn earlier today that his arm felt like granite, like solid metal; of course his arm was as normal as it ever had been.

The boy stared in confusion. He shook his head.

"As if my arm would ever be metal, I'm just delusional," He said with a chuckle before he lounged back on his bed, snuggling under the covers. He decided he would watch some TV before he fell asleep, and he eventually did, to the dull noise of the television and its inhabitants talking.

 _'It wasn't the math, Al, it was us.' Blood, oh so much blood, everywhere. Blood, dripping from where his right arm should be. Masaomi saw blood on his hand-where was his right arm? Oh god, his arm was just a stump._

 _He was calling for someone. "AL! AL!"_

 _He knew that person. Who was Al? Why did that name break his heart and tear it in two?_

 _Then he saw it. A thing with red eyes, horribly disgusting skin and a disgusting, unnatural gasp as it came toward him, trying to breathe, its arms wrapping around him. He let out a bloodcurdling scream._

 _Masaomi reached out to feel his left leg. Nothing but blood met him. Where did his left leg and right arm go? Where? Where?_

 _"Alphonse! Alphonse!" He was still screaming for this boy. Who was Alphonse? Why did he matter so much?_

 _Suddenly, the dream warped to Masaomi being covered in his own blood. Mikado was standing above him, smiling, a gun pressed to his forehead._

 _"I guess I'll be able to see what happens in the next life!"_

 _"Mikado, don't! MIKADO!"_

 _BANG._

 _Masaomi moaned and wailed. "Why did you do it, you idiot? Why...?"_

 _He was covered in blood. Again, again, again._

 _'You can stop him, you know. Prevent Mikado from going down this path.'_

 _"How can I? He's already dead!" He moaned, holding his friend close to him._

 _He swore he saw a golden-eyed boy in front of him, sneering slightly. "Here, let me help you!"_

 _A metal arm met his own, and then a flash of light-_

* * *

Masaomi awoke with a start, covered in his own sweat.

"What the hell was that all about?" He gasped, pressing his right hand to his forehead. No metal. His right arm was still normal. His gaze went to his left leg. Still normal, too.

"Were those...memories?" He muttered, staring at the ground.

'Yes, of another life! About damned time you remembered, Kida Masaomi!' A sharp voice said from somewhere.

Masaomi jumped. "W-Who the hell said that?" He cried, trying to sound braver than he actually was.

'I did! In your head!'

"I'm going insane," Kida mumbled, "I need to stop watching television before bed..."

'You're not insane! Look in your mirror!'

"Why?" Masaomi questioned, but his eyes widened as his reflection distorted to show another boy who resembled him a lot, but with longer hair and a metal arm. "You're the kid from my dream!" He cried.

"Very accurate," Ed said. "What's my name?"

"Uh...Alphonse?" Masaomi said. "Look, I'm officially insane."

"Edward is my name."

"Edward," Masaomi mumbled, "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."

His reflection facepalmed.

"Look, you can change the future. Make it so your friend doesn't do those crazy things!"

"How can I, if he's a gang leader, too?" He mumbled.

"Did your dream tell you that?" Ed said, smiling.

"Yeah..." Masaomi muttered, collapsing into a chair by his bed."It's not like I can just tell him, hey, don't you dare press a gun to your head and kill yourself, he'll think I'm crazy."

"Not necessarily."

Masaomi tilted his head. "How so?"

Ed smiled. "I have an idea, you see."


	4. Chapter 4 Golden Shadows

**A/N: Whoa, look who's actually trying to update something! Amazing! Bravo! Claps viciously.**

 **College has had me in a vice grip but maybe I have some ideas for Dat Boi Kida. I love him. Per Ironiam Fatum and Tabula Rasa are probably gonna be updated next, followed by the Improbable Truth.**

" **For the first forty days a child**

 **is given dreams of previous lives. Journeys, winding paths,**

 **a hundred small lessons**

 **and then the past is erased."**

― **Michael Ondaatje, Handwriting** **from /quotes/tag/reincarnation**

 **Chapter 5 Golden Shadows**

* * *

 _He is dreaming._

 _He knows he is dreaming, yet it feels so utterly, unthinkably, real._

 _The feeling of the wind blowing through his hair feels as real as it does rushing through his skin, caressing itself tightly against his hands and his legs. The feel of the grass whipping around his ankles as he runs-inevitably, he is small. He is always a small one in these dreams, and there is someone else, isn't there? Someone who is his sun, someone who means everything to him-someone who means the world to him._

 _If he looks behind him, he notices-that there is no one there, and he stops, his little feet coming to a sudden halt, feeling the wet grass clinging to his socks. He turns, it is as though he feels someone watching him. When isn't he being watched in these odd dreams, anyway? It feels like millions of eyes are watching his very movement, judging his existence, feeling out whether he is good or not, whether he deserves to live or exist._

 _Yes, it is a very familiar and very irksome feeling._

 _Golden eyes flit around, searching, searching for anyone at all-because the last thing he wants is to be totally, totally alone-or else a blade will come out and stab through his chest and pain, pain, pain, oh gosh so much pain...dying on the ground in agony, in pain and so much misery, so much stuff left to do...Al, Winry, Mustang..._

 _He shakes his head, following the shadow his eyes just saw, following it to...a black, charred remnant of what used to be a house. If ever it was one, as it was withered and worn away by age, sinking back into the ground where it came from like it was in quicksand._

 _He walked over to it and picked up a piece of it, eying it in his fingers, carefully. Masaomi's eyes flickered over to an odd sight indeed, a piece of armor, lying on the ground, juxtaposed in an awkward angle near the charred pieces of structure that obviously once formed a house, once formed a dream._

 _"How did it get like this?" He asked himself._

 _Kida turns, and sees a doll, lying on the ground, partially worn away from age. It crumbles to pieces as soon as he holds it in his arms. An image of a little girl flits into his mind, one with blue eyes, someone you can never forget, someone special to him, but he doesn't know why, he's never really thought about it._

 _Yet it feels like he should know who this girl is._

 _He turns, feeling a hand grab his, in time to see a boy with gray eyes staring at him impatiently. "Brother, why are you just standing there?"_

 _Kida looks at him quizzically. "What do you mean?" He asked in confusion._

 _The boy nudged him, seeming more and more impatient by the second. "Come on, brother, you promised me you were going to show me alchemy!"_

 _"I'm not your brother, kid, now please leave me alone," Masaomi snapped, feeling rising irritation come over him._

 _"But Brother-"_

 _For just a second, he feels like he should give in, but before he could even say anything, the scene warped into...a scene with a little girl and her dog._

 _"Wanna play?" It asks, in an eerie, unnatural tone._

 _Masaomi instinctively jumps backward, as any normal person would upon hearing a beast talk. "What the hell?"_

 _"You don't remember me. I'm hurt, big brother..."_

 _He feels like he should know this person, but Kida has always been scared of dogs, so he just sits there, shaking. "No...please, go away."_

 _"You must remember, big brother."_

 _"Please, just leave me alone."_

 _"Big Brother..."_

 _"I SAID, TO LEAVE ME ALONE!" He snapped and ran and ran, until he found himself staring into a person's eyes._

 _"So, once wasn't enough, eh, Full Metal? Let's finish the job." And then suddenly, he can't breathe. It feels like he's being strangled, suffocated. He's lifted up into the air, struggling wildly, fighting for breath._

* * *

Then everything fades to black, and he is awake, tossing his covers aside and sweating slightly. "What the fuck was that about? Who were those people?" He asked himself.

The Shogun got out of bed and paced back and forth. "That made no sense."

'Your memories of another life are coming back. You cannot hope to deny it forever.'

"Shut up," Masaomi whispered. "Reincarnation is impossible, absurd! It just doesn't happen."

'Cynical attitude, short, I like that. Why do you like milk, though, and not throw a fit about being short?'

"Because it doesn't really matter and I like milk. Why am I talking to myself, anyway?" Kida muttered in annoyance, swinging his legs back and forth as he flipped open his phone and typed in Izaya's number before he answers.

"Hello, Masaomi-kun."

As much as he hates turning to that bastard for help, he has no choice.

"Izaya, do you know about...reincarnation?"

The sound of something falling to the ground can be heard before Izaya quickly answers, sounding shaken all of a sudden. "That's nonsense, Masaomi-kun. Nothing but hyperbole and exaggerations done for money."

"Then explain my sudden, bizarre dreams for the past couple weeks!" He snaps.

"Dreams are weird, Masaomi-kun." Izaya says patiently. "If you're having a mental breakdown, I'm not transferring you to a hospital."

He slams the phone shut and throws himself onto his bed. "Fuck him. Why won't he help me?"

* * *

Ed wasn't expecting to live again, he thought as he watched his other self sulking. This life was different from his old. Sure, he had dead parents again, a rude attitude and a boss he hated, but this version of him got into fights, wasn't real booksmart, was in a gang (and a leader, for god's sake), liked the color yellow, and drank milk and liked it.

Ed could overlook almost all of that except for the gang leader part...but the drinking milk and liking it? Really? How could his reincarnated self even like that? Had he been brainwashed by some secret cult into doing so?

No, he had to conclude, Kida Masaomi was just a very stubborn, very skeptical and very much typical teenager.

He watched the kid wince upon walking by a person who had a dog on a leash and sighed. Some of his experiences had been passed on through subliminal fears. Though Kida didn't remember Nina at all, the subconscious emotions and feelings only translated over to him as "fear" and dogs "bad".

'Why do you hate dogs so much?' His other self asked.

"Shut up," Kida growled, slamming his fist against the wall.

"Yo, kid, you okay?"

Kida whirled around in time to see Shizuo standing there, looking concerned.

"I'm just fine." He replied.

"You don't look it." Shizuo remarked. "Take care of yourself."

Kida raised a brow. "Do I know him from somewhere?" He asked.

'You do. Even if you don't remember him. He looked after you once before, he'll look after you again. He was a strong dude.'

"I don't get it." He muttered, scratching his head.

He collapsed beside Saki in a chair.

"Nothing makes sense anymore."

"What's the point of stuff making sense, Masaomi?" Saki asked. She always managed to cheer him up and make things better.

"I'm just so tired, Saki. So, so tired." He moaned, putting his head in his hands while she stroked his hair gently, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulders.

"Rest, Masaomi. You need it, you're insomniac. I know you were up on your phone all night." She teases.

"Was not," He grumbles before he finally passes out.

"He's still just a kid and he acts like an adult." She muttered with a laugh.

Why did that remind her of someone?

Looking at his face now, his sleeping, peaceful face, he reminds her of a child.

It hits her then, how childish he actually is.

How much he carries on his shoulders and how much he acts like someone twice his age.

"Allow yourself to be a teenager." She whispers.


End file.
